Netrek is the _original_ Internet team strategy game. First implemented in 1989, Netrek pits two teams of up to 8 players each against each other for control of the galaxy.
Use torpedoes and lasers to destroy enemy ships.
Bomb enemy planets.
Land armies to capture planets.
Work as a team to wipe your enemy from the galaxy.
This Netrek client is implemented in Swift and SwiftUI and is open source at https://github.com/darrellroot/Netrek-SwiftUI
Historic information and documentation about Netrek is available at http://www.netrek.org
Join the "Netrek-forever" Google group to get notifications of scheduled "human" games. In the meantime practice against the robots!
Starting Instructions:
1) Select a server (we recommend a "Bronco" style server such as pickled.netrek.org).
2) Launch cruiser.
3) A "Team not allowed" message may appear. If that happens select a different team and repeat #2.
If no other humans are playing, practice against the robots!
Game controls:
Tapping near center of the screen fires torpedoes.
Tapping near the edge of the screen sets course.
Stepper in bottom-right sets speed.
The first tap on an enemy ship fires a laser.
More taps on enemy ships fire torpedoes.
Lasers recharge in 1 second.
Tapping on a planet locks onto the planet for orbit.
Pinch to zoom in the tactical window.
Exit by clicking both self destruct buttons.
At this time, the iOS and iPadOS versions of Netrek are not recommend for the "hockey" variant of the game due to lack of tractor/pressor controls.
Version history
1.4
2020-07-27
Improved graphic performance.
Now supports 20 FPS when connected to a 20 FPS server (such as netrek.networkmom.net)
Some code improvements to the sound and preferences systems.
1.3
2020-07-20
Supports new "Empire" netrek mode on server netrek.networkmom.net
Fixed planet visibility logic.
Shield opacity never goes below 20%.
Plasma detonations now visible.
Fixed bug in torpedo data transmission.
1.2
2020-06-24
Fixed bug in preferences screen.
Updated metaserver list to reflect updated server names.
1.1
2020-06-19
Added iPhone support!
Pinch to zoom tactical screen!
Speed is set by stepper in bottom right. No more dragging to set speed.
Course is set by tapping around edge of tactical screen. No more dragging to set course.
Torpedoes continue to be fired by tapping near middle of tactical screen.
Will never admit to how many grad school hours were spent in front of this game, but so happy it's back! I guess it never really left, but to have an updated native Mac client is just... wow!